Contents

Regions

Cities

Antakya, also known as Antioch — the provincial capital with much history

Iskenderun, also known as Alexandretta — the biggest city of the province, situated on the shore of Mediterranean Sea, with a pleasant palm-lined waterfront

Other destinations

Understand

The province, which was then known as Sandjak (county) of Alexandretta, was under French control as a part of the French Mandate of Syria between 1920 and 1938. In 1938, it appeared on the maps as the independent State of Hatay. Following a plebiscite a year later, it joined Turkey as the Hatay Province in 1939.

Talk

Almost all people in the province can speak Turkish, although with a heavy accent in most cases. Also Syrian dialect of Arabic is the native tongue for many people in many parts of the province.

Get in

by air

Domestic flights are available to Hatay Airport which is located about 25 km away from Antakya. However, nearest airport with international connections is located in Adana to the north.

by train

The only significant settlement in the province with a railline is Iskenderun, which has several daily train connections with Adana and Mersin.

by car

The main highway connecting the province to the rest of Turkey to the north is the motorway O-53 (toll-road). There are also secondary highways as well, some of which eventually reaches one of many border posts located on the Turkish-Syrian border.

Get around

See

Itineraries

Do

Eat

Drink

Sleep

Stay safe

Contact

The telephone code of the province is 326, which should be prefixed with 0 when calling from elsewhere in Turkey, or with +90 when calling from out of Turkey.